The brake cable of a parking brake usually is connected for detachment to a hand brake lever arranged in the drum brake so that the brake cable can be exchanged. In the common drum brakes the brake cable, when being mounted, is passed through a retaining means connected to the hand brake lever, the brake cable engaging behind the retaining means by a thickened nipple which is attached to one end of the brake cable. With this conventional design of the fastening of the brake the assembly can be accomplished in but one state in which the drum brake is open, i.e. before the brake drum is mounted on the drum brake. This however is contrary to the requirements of expedient motor vehicle assembly according to which finished subassemblies of the components of a motor vehicle are to be supplied to the assembly line in order simply to be installed in the vehicle.
If the brake cable can be mounted only when the drum brake is open either the axles equipped with the drum brakes without the brake drums and the wheel hubs which usually are connected integrally to the same are supplied to the assembly line where, first of all, the brake cables are attached and subsequently the brake drums with the hubs are mounted. As the wheel hubs receive the ball bearings, dirt may enter the bearings with this order of assembly, impairing the proper functioning of the bearings. With a different course of assembly, first the brake cable can be attached in the open drum brake whereupon the drum brake is fitted together with the hub and the brake drum so that this finished unit is ready for supply to the assembly line. This solution has the disadvantage that the handling of the assembly unit is rendered difficult by the flexible, resilient brake cable which is about 2 meters long.
For this reason DE-GM 87 02 576 already suggested a drum brake with an intermediate cable attached to the hand brake lever and leading to the outside of the drum brake. The end of the intermediate cable exposed to the outside of the drum brake is provided with a tension member from which the actual brake cable may be suspended. This design has the advantage of permitting the brake cable to be fastened to the drum brake furnished with the brake drum. Yet this known structure is rather expensive.